Coconut

Coconut

1. Uses

   • kernel
     • oil
     • delicacy
     • desiccated coconut
       • food and confectionary
   • residue
     • feeds
   • coconut water
     • beverage
   • husk
     • fiber
       • ropes, carpets, brushes
   • shell
     • household utensils & charcoal
   • inflorescences
     • sap
       • sugar, alcoholic beverages and vinegar

2. Habitat

   • along the coast and in the interior
   • tropics of Cancer and Capricorn
   • grow up to 1000m elevation
     • mostly planted at altitudes below 300m

3. Taxonomy

   • two natural subgroups
     • Tall : Cocos nucifera typica
       • grow up to 30 m
       • live 60-80 years
     • Dwarf: Cocos nucifera nana
       • grow up to10-20 m
       • generally live

4. Botany

   • Anthesis period
     • Male phase
       • Male flowers are first to open and shed pollen.
       • A single male flower shed pollen only one day and after that the male flowers abscise.
       • The male phase last about 20 days
     • Female phase
       • The female phase begins after a few days after spathe open
       • last only 3-5 days (tall palms) or 8-15 days (dwarfs)
   • Coconut water
     • Coconut water is formed in the third month and its volume reaches a maximum in the eighth month, declining thereafter as the fruit ripens
     • a large coconut may contain as much as 0.6 L of water with 30 g of sugar and 2 g of potassium when still immature.
   • Coconut fiber
     • a large coconut may contain as much as 0.6 L of water with 30 g of sugar and 2 g of potassium when still immature.
   • Varieties (Recommended)
     • Tall Varieties
       • Malayan Tall (MT)
       • Rennel Tall
     • Dwarf Varieties
       • Malayan Yellow Dwarf (MYD)
     • Hybrid Varieties
       • MAWA
       • MATAG
       • Advantages
         • Robust and vigorous growth
         • Early bearing
         • Very high nut yield
         • Versatile in usage

5. Seesling nursery

   • Benifit
     • enable culling of poor or off-type (in hybrid population) seedlings
     • nursery grown seedlings received better care than those seedlings grown directly in the field
   • Pre-nursery stage
     • Before seedling, needs selected seed-nuts in a germination bed
   • Main Nursery
     • After germination,move to poly bag or field
     • nursery site must be near or within the field to be planted
     • The site should be well drained and situated near a dependable water source.
   • Seedling maintenance
     • Watering seedling has to be done daily except on rainy days
     • Weed properly
     • Use insecticides/fungicides as appropriate
   • Seedling nutrient supply
     • No fertilization for at least five months
     • From the sixth month onwards, about 30 g per plant of NPK fertilizer (14:14:14 or 15:15:15) can be applied at monthly intervals until field planting
   • Seedling selection
     • Remove poor seedlings
       • broad, dark green leaves; straight stems and absence
   • Field Nursery
     • for rolling farms after which furrows are prepared 45 cm apart
       • No more than 8 months
     • The germinated nuts are placed 30 cm apart in prepared furrows. Two thirds of the nut should be covered with soil.
   • Polybag nursery
     • for flat to slightly rolling field
       • Black perforated polyethylene bags with dimensions of 46 cm x 46 cm x 0.015 cm are used.
       • The polybag seedlings should be spaced at about 1 meter apart in a triangular pattern
       • 14,000 seedlings or 4,000 seedling per acre
       • Advantages
         • Root pruning is minimal, therefore reducing transplanting shock
         • Selection and culling can be done easily and accurately
         • Time of field planting can be easily be adjusted when necessary
         • Nursery maintenance and management is easy
         • grow faster therefore enhancing earlier flowering
   • Transplanting
     • Age Of Seedling For Transplanting
       • Within fifteen months
         • have about 3 or 4 leaves
     • Time
       • Transplanting of the seedling from the nursery into the field should be carried out at the onset of the rainy season
     • Basal fertilizer
       • About 150 g CIRP should be placed in each planting hole
       • Later, 400 g of CIRP should be broadcasted in a circle (about 1m radius)

6. Planting

   • Field preparation
     • Start with system selection, site selection and layout planning
     • 6 to 12 months before
     • the old coconut trees are felled
     • weeding, staking and holing
   • Planting density
     • Tall variety
       • 10 m square spacing =100 palms per ha.
       • 7.5 m triangular spacing = 210 palms per ha.
     • Dwarf variety
       • 6.5 m triangular spacing = 270 palms per ha.
   • Planting patterns
     • Triangular: 7.6 m
     • Square: 7.6 m x 7.6 m 8 x 8 m 9 x 9 m
     • Single hedge (pagar): 6.5 m in rows by 9 m bet. rows
     • Double hedge: 6.5 m x 6.5 m in rows by 9 m bet. pairs of rows
   • Land preparation
     • Land preparation should be timed to coincide with the dry season.
     • For new area, the land should be cleared of weed and shrub.
   • Drainage
     • Coconut not suitable in waterlogged areas
     • Proper drainage needed to eliminate excess water in the field
     • Drains that are no longer useful are filled in and new ones are dug (1.2 m x 1.0 m x 0.5 m)
     • The drain intensity = about one drain per inter-row total about 300 m of drain per ha
   • Cover crops
     • Benefit
       • avoid erosion
       • to prevent the growth of weeds
       • Retain soil moisture content
       • Supply organic matters and nutrients
     • Maintenance
       • Prune and trim every month to prevent choking the young growing palms
       • When palm 5-6 yrs. old , cover crops can be killed
   • LIME APPLICATION
     • Before planting
       • Generally apply 300 g in planting hole and 1.5 kg around the hole (1m radius)
       • oin 2-4 weeks before planting
     • After planting
       • Apply twice a year
         • A month before fertilizer application
         • Quickly after harvest
   • Fertilization
     • Nutrient requirements are high in the early stages of growth
     • Young plants that receive fertiliser prior to flowering
       • grow faster
       • produce more and larger leaves
       • come into bearing earlier and
       • produce more and larger nuts
     • nutrient requirements
       • Nitrogen (N)
       • phosphorus (P)
       • Potassium(K)

7. PESTS AND DISEASES

   • Pest
     • RHINOCEROUS BEETLE
       • can be done using 0.1% BHC or Chlordane or carbofuran or cypermethrin.
       • Pheromone trap or biological control (Metarhizium anisopliae)
     • RED PALM WEEVIL
       • Chemical control
         • Small palm – place carbofuran on shoot
         • Shorter palm – spray shoot with cypermethrin insecticide
         • Tsaller palm – stem injection with monocrotophos or metamidophos (when dry & on healthy palm)
         • Soil drenching on palm base using imidacloprid or dinotefuran
       • Traps
       • Cultural method
         • Sanitation – prevent wound & breeding ground
         • fell the infested palms and burn to control beetle population
     • TERMITES
       • locate and destroy termite mounds.
       • Chemicals such as copper sulphate or calcium
   • Disease
     • BASAL STEM ROT
     • BUD ROT
     • LEAF SPOT DISEASE
       • Prevention by spacing out the seedlings in the nursery (Aeration).
       • Chemical control using captan, Benomyl Mancozeb and Maneb.

8. HARVESTING AND PROCESSING

   • Maturity
     • Coconut start bearing at the age of 3 to 4 years after planting
     • The yield reached its optimum at 10th to 12th years
     • The nuts reaches its maturity stage when the husk has turn grayish to brown color
   • Harvesting
     • Harvesting can be done by cutting mature nut on the tree
     • Or collecting the naturally fallen nut on the ground
     • cycles about 8-10 cycles per year
   • PROCESSING
     • sold directly or dehusked
     • production of desiccated coconut, coconut milk powder and other end product of coconut, the white flesh is taken out and processed